PDF Camouflage The Hidden Lives of Autistic Women Sarah Bargiela Sophie Standing 9781785925665 Books

Product details Hardcover 48 pages Publisher Jessica Kingsley Publishers (March 21, 2019) Language English ISBN-10 1785925660

Camouflage The Hidden Lives of Autistic Women Sarah Bargiela Sophie Standing 9781785925665 Books Reviews

• The full title of this graphic novel should give you a pretty strong idea of what it covers. It’s all about autistic women, their differences from the typical expectations of autism, and how that results in them blending in better (and thus being less likely to be identified and/or diagnosed).
  There were a lot of things I didn’t know about autism in women that I learned while reading this. It was incredibly informative, while still being very approachable.
  I like that they chose to talk about the subject in a visual way, as it made everything feel more casual and comfortable to talk about. It felt less like I was reading a textbook and more like I was reading about real people (which was actually the case).
  I found this to be a very informative, and enlightening graphic novel. It was nice to take a break from reading fiction and instead learn something true and important.
• Camouflage by Sarah Bargiela is a free NetGalley e-comicbook that I read in late February.
  
  Exploring concepts through the experiences of 4 autistic women in comic book form, like the belief that girls and women are less likely to be diagnosed due to their brains supposedly wired for empathy and being able to echo social cues more effectively; consistency in habit and routine; seeking/avoiding sensory activities and having keen interests; internalizing emotions and masking one’s identity in order to appear normal; developing assertiveness during friendships and relationships; and finding community within their diagnosis. The palette offered heathered/spotty pastel hues with focal points of coral, hunter green and black, and, altogether, it was too short and I wanted more!
• Camouflage The Hidden Lives of Autistic Women is a completely necessary teaching tool, for kids and adults alike. This nonfiction guide beautifully and intellectually illustrates how autism manifests in women and how women’s experiences are often completely different from men’s.
  
  The artwork is very modern and adds a lot to the story. The style makes it easier to understand these women’s experiences through a variety of panel layouts and a combination of dialogue, visual aids, and artistic representation of the facts.
  
  The stories in Camouflage are extremely empowering, and as a guide, this is a great start to understanding the complexities of autism.
  
  NOTE I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.
• While the text in Camouflage The Hidden Lives of Autistic Women is probably comparable to a magazine article or blog post in length (and therefore is a very quick read), the illustrations fill out the information and help to humanize this topic.
  
  We get to hear from a few different autistic women about some of the challenges and differences that they face in life. There is also some information about the differences in the ways that autistic men and autistic women present their symptoms, which can lead to women being underdiagnosed.
  
  Despite its short length, I found it fairly informative and a good resource for anyone who wants to learn more about the gender differences in autistic people, and the lived experiences of autistic women.
  
  (Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.)
• This is well-researched, impeccably presented GN about how autism can present itself in young girls and woman. Through its clever use of illustration to help readers understand concepts and words they may be unfamiliar with, to its inclusion of stories from those with Autism--this book has helped me understand a topic I believe I knew all too well. This GN toes the line between presenting readers with enough information to feel like they understand more about the topic without feeling bogged down too much scholarly language. As a twin to a sister with Autism, I feel like I can understand her better and that's an invaluable gift.
• I didn't know what to expect going into reading this and I came away surprised. I learned a lot about autism in women! I would give this book 3.5 stars.
  
  This was a great medium for teaching about the subject matter and I enjoyed the anecdotal approach. One big hang-up I have about the book is how gender essentialist it is about sex differences. The author makes overarching generalizations about the societally influenced behavior of cis-men and cis-women (assumed that this is what she is talking about, as she does not indicate otherwise) without many citations to support these assertions. I almost stopped reading because of the generalizations - aren't we past an antiquated science supporting the separation of gender into two categories?
  
  Other than the gendered nonsense, I enjoyed this book and the information it offered.
  
  Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of Camouflage and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
• Obviously there’s only so much information that you can fit into a fifty page graphic novel, but I think this is a great jumping off point. Bargiela uses research studies with the personal experiences of women diagnosed to be on the spectrum to bring us informative graphic and stories about women with autism. She covers the difference between behaviors in men and women, likely a cause for why women may be under-diagnosed. I read a similar article in the past about the difference in behaviors for ADHD and I find it interesting to compare the differences (and also distressing that women can get ignored because they don’t check the “usual” boxes). This quick, easy to digest guide is a good starting point for understanding different women. Thanks to NetGalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for the eARC.